Educational game apparatus



pt. 6, 195 G. E. NELSON 2,717,156

' INVENTOR. GEORGE E. NELJOJV Sept. 6, 1955 G. E. NELSON EDUCATIONAL GAME APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1952 INVENTOR.

E /VL50/V M a w 6 This invention relates to an educational game. It is an object of the invention to provide an educational game of the quiz type in which there will be provrded a plurality of sets of cards having pictures to be identified or questions to be answered correctly and which can be played by two persons or by teams of two or more persons.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a quiz type of a game means for keeping score which ineludes the advancement of a token over the shortest route of a diagonally arranged area employing squares with the goals being located in a square on the sidewalls of a box bearing the area and at the opposite corners thereof.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a board game a simple means for the attachment of stacks of cards to the board whereby they can be turned one at a time and kept contained on the board in two piles and against displacement or mixing with one another.

it is another object of the invention to provide in a game board a built-in spinner that will give indication of a plurality of moves or references to the several categories from which may have a displaceable magnifying member through which the readings can be viewed and which can be removed for making readings on cards or stamps where the data is not too clearly seen with the naked eye.

Another'object of the invention is to provide in a game board and box an arrangement of pockets wherein the different sets of cards can be retained in a systematic and easily accessible manner.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a game of the quiz type having the above objects in view which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, compact, attractive and of pleasing appearance, easy to play and of interest to both adults and children alike and can be varied and altered to the interests of the players.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective and collective view of the game box with the cover of the box lifted so that the card stacks or categories are displayed in the cover and with the appliances of the game being displayed in the bottom of the box;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the data bearing area of the box bottom with the spinner elevated from the pin thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the spinner construction, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary and enlarged perspective view of the box bottom and of a card stack split and disposed over retaining pins, the arcuate guide tube being removed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to that shown in Fig. 6 with the arcuate guide tube disposed on the pins and with an illustration being made as to how the 2,717,156 Patented Sept. 6, 1955 card is moved from one side to the other over the guide tube;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the tokens;

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively perspective views of question and answer cards looking respectively from the opposite sides of the same; i

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a spinner with a magnifying element associated therewith in order that the data can be more easily read and which is removable to read. stamps or other data not easily visible;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the magnifying member removed from the spinner post and being used to view a stamp.

Referring now to the figures, 15 represents a box bottom having end walls 16 and 17 and front and rear side walls 18 and 19. A cover 21 may fit over the walls of the bottom 16 and has a plurality of rows of pockets 22, each pocket bearing a stack of cards 23 of a certain category. Each row has four pockets, the lowermost pocket as indicated at 22' has an upwardly extending central front portion serving to receive and retain question and answer cards 23 of different dimension than the category cards 23. The pockets 22 for the category cards are cut away at one side as indicated at 22" so that the category cards 23 can be more easily viewed and selected.

The box bottom has a central diamond shaped area 25 that extends diagonally from the front to the rear side wall of the box and has square spaces 25 arranged in checkerboard fashion and starting spaces 26 and 27 aligned respectively with jackpot or goal spaces 28 and 29.

At each end of the board are four sets of twin areas designated generally by the letters A, B, C and D. These twin areas have respectively disposed therein and adjacent one another pins 31 and 32 for receiving the cards 23 or 23 which have holes adjacent their edges for the purpose of receiving these pins and a tubular arcuate guide 33 that is fitted over the pins to retain and guide the movement of the cards from one pin to the other in the manner illustrated in. Fig. 5. Each card will have certain data such as a picture on the front face thereof to be identified by name and artist and the answer is as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 given on the reverse side of the card as the card is turned from the right to the left as the pages of a book are turned. The cards 23, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, are found. in the pockets 22" and may be disposed on the smaller areas. These cards of the question and answer type have end holes 34 by which the cards are attached to the pins 31 and 32. As shown in Fig. 6, the pins 31 and 32 have fiat heads 35 that engage with the underface of board layer 36, Fig. 6, and are held there by a sealing wafer 37. The shank of the pin will extend upwardly through a hole in the board layer and above the upper surface thereof. A lower board layer 38 is fixed to the underside of the board layer 36 to conceal the several wafers and to provide the bottom of the box with a flat and smooth surface. The arcuate tube 33 is removable from the pins 31 and 32 in order to put the cards in place over the pins.

In each of the diagonally opposite corners of the box 15 is a spinner device 41. This spinner device comprises a horseshoe shaped spinner element 42, Figs. 2 and 3, which is notched at 43 to provide an opening through which data indications 44 on the bottom board surface can be read.

An arrow head 45 projects into the apex of the notch and will point toward the data indication when the spinner element has come to a stop. Staples 45 and 46 are driven into the horseshoe ends, to weight the spinner element so that it will spin evenly. In the top of the spinner element is an inverted cup-shaped pivot member or socket 47 that projects upwardly through a hole in the element and is flanged on the underside of the element to support it. This cup shaped member 47 provides a handle by which the element can be lifted from a supporting pin 48 that is fixed by its flange portion 48' to the underface of upper board layer 36 by adhesive 49. The lower board layer 38 covers this adhesive 49.

In Fig. there is shown a modified form of the spinner device. The inverted cup-shaped member 47 is provided with a projection 51 so that upon a magnifying glass arm 52 hearing magnifying glass 53 being disposed over the member 47 a driving connection is afforded with a recess 54 extending radially from hole 55 that receives the cupshaped member 47. It will be seen that the magnifying glass will be located over the notch 43 so that the data can be readily observed.

At times when detail information is to be taken from one of the cards or stamps 56, the magnifying glass 52 can be removed from the cup-shaped member 47 and used in the manner illustrated in Fig. 11.

Also fixed on the board bottom at each side thereof are upstanding pins indicated by the letters T and M. On these pins may be disposed tokens 57 having holes 58 in their centers and different number indications 59.

The game is played in the following manner: To determine the order of play, each member of the two teams, the reds and the blues, takes a token 57 from the pin marked T and lays it face down on the board so that its numeral 59 is not visible. The tokens 57 are mixed and each player picks up one token. The player with the red token with the lowest number plays first. The player with the blue token having the lowest number plays second. The players of the red and blue teams follow according to the lowness of the numbers on their respective tokens. One team will place its tokens on one starting point 26 or 27 of the area 25. Each team now selects four groups of cards 23 of different categories and places them respectively on the twin areas A, B, C and D and over the pins associated therewith. The cards of one team are placed on the opponents side of the board and represent the categories which the opponents team will try to identify or answer questions. To begin the game, the player of the red team with the lowest number places his token in the beginning box S and spins the horseshoe spinning device 41. The pointer will stop on one of twelve segments printed on the board and which a card picture must be identified or what move should be made or that the player should try to give the correct answer to the question on the card 23' in category D. If the player identifies the picture properly, or answers the question correctly, to an adjoining unoccupied square 25'. The player should select the most direct route to the jackpot space 28 or 29. The correct answer for any picture or question will be readily determined by flipping the card over the will indicate the category from he may move his token one square 4 Y arcuate tubular guide 33 and reading the picture identification or question answer from the reverse side of the card. This procedure continues until the tokens of one team have been advanced to an end jackpot space.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a game which is truly educational and which is so played that great interest will be had from it. It should also be apparent that there has been provided with the game board novel devices for the handling of cards and for calling the move indications. It will be further seen that the spinner device includes a removable magnifying glass that makes clear reading of the move indications and which is removable for use free of the spinner and upon stamps or cards where the matter is not clearly visible to the naked eye.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A quiz game comprising a polygonal playing board having a diagonally disposed checkerboard play area, a pair of goal spaces at opposite corners thereof, a pair of card displaying areas oppositely disposed adjacent the remaining corners of said play area, a plurality of pairs of adjacent pins in each of said card displaying areas, detachable arcuate guide members connecting each of said pairs of pins, a set of punched cards on each of said pairs of pins, the cards of each of said sets having on one side indicia of one category to be answered and on the other side answer indicia, a spinning element in each of said card displaying areas having a plurality of card category denoting segments below said spinning elements, and a plurality of distinctive tokens to be moved on said play area toward said goals as question indicia are correctly identifid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 814,438' Franke Mar. 6, 1906 975,316 Barrett Nov. 8, 1910 1,004,935 Taylor Oct. 3, 1911 1,319,399 Lanpher Oct. 21, 1919 1,503,294 Bishop July 29, 1924 1,507,644 Wareing Sept. 9, 1924 1,642,093 Stewart Sept. 13, 1927 1,900,462 Osuch Mar. 7, 1933 2,116,798 Osuch May 10, 1938 2,454,479 Rosenberger Nov. 23, 1948 2,473,675 Boreszewski June 21, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,657 Great Britain 1909 

